Welcome to Poetry Friday this week hosted by the talented and prolific Janet Wong and Sylvia Vardell HERE. Thank you for hosting!
Janet Clare Fagal, who is an avid fan of Poetry Friday, is sharing some poetry treasures with us this week. Enjoy!
Thank you to Janice Scully for inviting me blog again. I am glad to be back among my Poetry Friday friends. I look forward to every Friday!
Tissue alert, this is a sad post. Ukraine and those suffering there are on all our minds.
On February 13 my Facebook friend, teacher Leigh Anne Eck, asked for suggestions for poems dealing with war. Her sixth grade students were reading Grenade by Alan Graetz. I recommended a few poems, including one of my own, some songs and book titles I thought might work. We did not realize what was ahead. My heart is heavy as I ponder the assault on Ukraine and ask myself, will we ever learn?
So with a heavy heart and prayers for us all, I will share with you the following, about war.
First is my poem, Broken, written in response to a chapter of a novella by author Nancy Dafoe, Naimah and Ajmal on Newton’s Mountain. My poem previously appeared here. Leigh Anne told me she shared the poem with her students who were touched by the sadness they saw on the faces of brave Ukrainian fathers sending their children to safety, while they remained to fight.
Broken Janet Clare Fagal She sees his face, a picture etched in memory. Her child’s image. Eyes dark, piercing. Nose strong. Mouth full, hints of smile. She hears his voice. The sounds: low wails, whimpers. Her son frightened by bombs, watches through rubble and smoke. Again and again the roar of war sends them running. New shelter. Cramped hovel, temporary. The necessaries: food, water, hope, too limited. A hand, rough, calloused reaches out. Safety, come. A gesture, the truck readies. Room for one. She pushes her son, up. A mother’s heart shatters. ©2018, all rights reserved
Another poem about war is Sara Teasdale’s moving poem There Will Come Soft Rains.
(Published just after the start of the 1918 German Spring Offensive during World War I.)
(War Time) There will come soft rains and the smell of the ground, And swallows circling with their shimmering sound; And frogs in the pools singing at night, And wild plum trees in tremulous white, Robins will wear their feathery fire Whistling their whims on a low fence-wire; And not one will know of the war, not one Will care at last when it is done. You can read the rest here.
Next I’d like to mention this haunting book, Lois Lowry’s first verse novel, On the Horizon: World War ll Reflections.
You can find more about it here.
For those interested in more about Lois Lowry, here is a great interview. I really enjoyed it especially after I learned she was a close friend of Lee Bennett Hopkins.
The following song about war has always moved me. It is John McCutcheon’s, Christmas in the Trenches. I heard him perform it over 30 years ago. The lesson to the song? “Because on each end of the rifle, we’re the same.” Listen to it here. Read the lyrics here.
Another important book about war is, The Endless Steppe, by Esther Hautzig here. I read this book to my 5th grade students many times over the years. It is a book of history and courage. It was almost like a dream come true when I attended our local Reading Association dinner and sat with her. I had written her a letter and gotten a beautiful response. My signed copies are treasures.
Again I ask, will we never learn? I offer prayers, contributions to various caring organizations, and great hope that this war will be over soon. Hope. We all need it, along with sunflowers. Long live Ukraine. Long live the children, all of our children.
One last thing: This week’s blog from one of my favorite authors and bloggers, Avi, is HERE. It is about writing books for kids in the time of war.
Thank you, Sylvia and Janet, for hosting!
Oh, beautiful post, Janet. What a horrible time for the Ukrainians, and for all of us who want to do more and more. I feel helpless. You’re shared some beautiful poems/thinking about war. On The Horizon by Lois Lowry is a special book. I’ve read others by Alan Gratz but not Grenade. And I haven’t thought about The Endless Steppe in a long time. I remember it seemed so heartbreaking. I have hope that the war will stop and we can help in the re-building. Thanks for this heartfelt post.
Thanks, Linda. I love Endless Steppe and I learned about re-reading long ago when I would read aloud certain novels over and over and pay attention to my “noticing”. It is worth a re-read from afar. I am beyond disgusted by this war on Ukraine. Such evil is again hard to fathom. (PS I can’t correct misspellings, but want to say I know it is Gratz!! Alan Katz always make comical comparisons to their similarity!!!) Peace is my prayer today. Heading to church now.
Janet, thank you. ‘The Endless Steppe’ changed my life. I have read that book many times as a young adult and it stays with me even now. Thank you for providing classroom resources about war. It’s similar to grief in that when we need those materials…we need them, pronto! But, it’s really not a fun curation to keep current. I join you in horror over what is happening in beautiful Ukraine. I’m agog that this is happening. Your poem, ‘Broken’ captures the tragedy and grief of the moment. So many of my students have been through trauma…not actual war but pretty intense trauma. I’ve wondered at how they are dealing with the news. I haven’t had any opportunity yet to hear what they think of current days.
I have an email to send to you! You are the first person I have heard who loved and was changed by the Endless Steppe as I was. You would have loved Esther, so soft spoken refined in the quietest of ways. Lovely. It is one of the highlights of my life to meet her and to know fully about her courage and determination and good luck. The trials that girl (young Esther) went through. Am going to send you a copy of the photo of her inscription to me. Thank you for your comment, Linda.
Thank you Janice and Janet… so many good resources here. Such sadness. My prayers continue.
Thanks for this wonderful list of resources and for your heart wrenching poem, Janet. I’d seen the Teasdale poem before but now it resonates even more. I’ll have to check out Lowry’s book.
Hi Jama,
Thank you for your comment and I am sure you will especially love Lowry’s book. My poem was one of those that simply wrote itself, I would have to check but very few revisions were needed. It was something that seemed to pour out of me, with hope for change in the world. Now look at it. Heart broken for sure. But maybe, maybe we will learn, but it takes the entire species to “get it”. Sad but I pray God is with us all.
Thank you, Janice and Janet, for giving us these resources; unfortunately it looks like we will be needing them for a while, which makes it especially important that we talk to children and not just ignore the news from Ukraine.
Thank you, Janet. It is so discouraging and makes me feel helpless. I pray for everyone.
Your post was beautiful and heartbreaking as well. What a sad and challenging time for the Ukrainian people. Thank you for sharing the resources for children – the most tragic victims of war. Your poem is so poignant. Hopefully things will improve – but it’s hard to feel optimistic at this time.
We sit, paralyzed by our horror, while millions of Ukrainians living the horror must move. I am grateful for the poetry and books that you have offered. Writing and reading are portals to empathy and sometimes the best thing we can offer is a way for children –and adults — to be moved by compassion. The world needs to see, and Ukrainians need to know, that we are standing with them, and doing whatever we can to help, now and for our shared future. Thank you.
Thank you for this, Patricia. I agree with you. The Poles as well. I have a wonderful friend there. Such good people. I will never forget the photo that went around FB (and probably elsewhere) of the strollers lined up on the train platform.
Dear Janet, what a gift you’ve given us today! I love your poem, esp. paired with the Sara Teasdale. Heartbreak and hope, heartbreak and hope. I’ve not read THE ENDLESS STEPPE. Will remedy. Thank you (and hello Janice!). xo
Thank you, Irene, very much. I guarantee you will love The ENDLESS STEPPE. Meeting her was such a moment for me. I would like to get rid of the heartbreak. Hoping all the prayers in the world will make a big difference. Some day. It at least makes me feel less helpless.
Hey, Janet and Janice (double J’s), thank you for joining our Poetry Friday gathering this week. So lovely how you wove these poetry resources together. Such powerful messages!
Thank you, Sylvia. So sad, though. I just got 2 copies of Things We Eat. So happy to have a healthy, fun and vibrant new book to share and one to gift to my two beloved grandkids!! Hugs to you and Janet W.
Thank you for sharing your moving poem and reading recommendations. I will look for The Endless Steppe and On the Horizon. Yes, we surely need hope in these trying times.
Thanks, JoAnn. Those poor people in Ukraine. Remember Y2K hype? It was wonderful to hope there would be big changes in the new millenium…….I also loved Lois Lowry’s Number the Stars, if you haven’t read that one. I worked on my HS Drama Club’s production of The Diary of Anne Frank. I did props. So I sat backstage through many rehearsals and shows. Then directed that years later. I think it had a profound on me. Back then I could not understand such evil. I might understand it a little more now, not really sure, I just find it disgusting and unfathomable……so sad.
I remember reading Esther Hautzig’s book as a teen – it had a profound impact on me. Thank you for bringing that to mind and for posting links to so many wonderful resources that we can use to help children understand what’s happening.
Thank you, Elisabeth. On re-reading it aloud so many time I could feel (in a tiny way) that I was there with her and I think it builds empathy for kids to see how other kids handle horrible situations with such bravery and resolve, but to meet her, it was such a joy to me. The way it was written was such that she told the story in a way it could be read to kids as young as gr.5. I can still picture the 5th grade girl (now a good friend and her late in life daughter was put in my 3rd grade class, unbeknownst to me at first because of her mom, what a treasured bond continued from this, but I digress). I never got one question from a parent about that choice (nor any of my others and I tried to be diverse in as many possible ways back then). Cracker Jackson, a beloved book to me, comes to mind. If only all kids could decide they would help and love one another than hurt others. I have heard that we are the only species that kills its own. Not sure if that is 100% fact, but….I weep and pray. Thanks for your comment.